I Fall to Pieces
by Avirra
Summary: An old foe comes back with his own plan to take out the A-Team.  Can Murdock prevent Face from becoming crazier than he is?
1. Chapter 1

**I Fall to Pieces**

**Part I**

There was occasionally a problem when a plan came together. Especially when it was the other guy's plan that worked.

Hannibal and B.A. were sharing a cell that, oddly enough, featured a rather large closed-circuit television screen that gave them all of the sights and sounds of one HM Murdock. Who, as it happened, was currently doing the Hokey-Pokey in a cell all to himself. B.A. gave a heavy sigh and wished they had a way to control the volume. Even in a whole other cell, the Crazy Man was irritating him.

Hannibal didn't mind the song and dance routine. You never knew what you might get when Murdock got bored and after the long hours in this cell, he was half-tempted to sing along himself. Well, if that wouldn't have nudged B.A. over the edge. Never deliberately making sparks near a powder keg was a good rule to keep in mind.

He hadn't spoken his concerns out loud yet to B.A., but the Colonel was worried. There was a reason for the monitoring of Murdock, he was sure of that. And whatever those reasons were? They weren't likely to be good ones for their pilot. Concern for Face was also wearing on him. He and Murdock had been separated from them as soon as they'd arrived. He knew where Murdock was, but Face? Still not a clue.

Footsteps alerted them to the possibility that they were about to have company, but to Hannibal's disappointment, none of the feet in question belonged to the conman. But he did recognize the man. One of the many that he and his team had put out of business, though he frankly no longer remembered the man's name. Other facts from more recent missions had long since replaced him in Hannibal's mind.

The man glowered at Hannibal, but then started to smile as Murdock's voice registered and his eyes moved to the screen.

"Do you have any idea how long and hard I thought about the perfect way to get even with you and your misfits, Smith? In a matter of hours, you destroyed five years of work. Took a couple of additional years and some hefty bribes, but I'm on my way again. This time, it will play out differently. This time, it's your organization that's going to be out of business. Permanently."

Scowling, B.A. regarded the man with utter disdain.

"If you're gonna kill us, go ahead and do it, Fool. Save my ears from hearing your trash."

That got a laugh.

"Fool. Perfect choice of words. You see, I'm not going to put you out of business by killing you. That might actually cause someone else to view you as heroes and try to follow in your footsteps. No – I think this will work out much better."

It was when he lifted his hand that they realized he was holding a remote control. The volume was turned up to the point where it was almost like Murdock was in the same cell with them.

Murdock stopped in the middle of 'put your left foot in'. He turned toward the door – apparently, he had heard something that they couldn't.

Then the cell to Murdock's door opened and Face was shoved inside. Hannibal felt a cold lump in his stomach. Face collapsed on the floor and was going erratically from laughing to screaming to crying.

The man just laughed at the expression on their faces.

"Enjoy the sight of another of your men losing his sanity, Smith. And pay close attention, Baracus. You're next."


	2. Chapter 2

**Part II**

The camera in his cell was concealed, so Murdock had no idea that he was being watched, let alone that B.A. and Hannibal were being 'treated' to the show. If he'd known, he might have refrained from speaking to spare them.

"Oh man – Face? Hannibal! B.A.! Where **are** you guys?"

It was obvious that the variety of sounds coming from Face were rapidly winding Murdock up to a state of high anxiety. Practically fleeing to a corner, Murdock faced it, put up his right arm against it at head level, then pressed his forehead against that arm, closing his eyes as he started hitting his closed left fist against the wall rhythmically.

B.A. was growling to himself and even the usually unflappable Hannibal was on his feet, pacing. If only they'd bought Face here, then he could be - no. No, this was obviously the reason for the monitor. To make him have to witness what was being done to his men without being able to offer even so much as a word of encouragement. There had to be a way to reach them. He just had to find it.

Watching Hannibal pace was as bad as watching the monitor, but B.A.'s eyes kept glancing back despite himself. He was hoping Face was just trying to scam their captors, but that was a slender hope. Then a movement from Murdock caught his attention.

"Hannibal - somethin's happening."

B.A. had been looking at the screen when Murdock had suddenly stopped pounding the wall and drew a deep, shuddering breath. The Captain turned away from the corner quickly, his whole body slightly rigid with determination. But despite his body language, even over the monitor, the fear was obvious in his eyes.

"Face? Faceman - It's me. You know? Murdock? Hey buddy, you're stealing my material here. I'm the team crazy. Come on, Temp. Talk to me."

Suddenly jerking his head up like a marionette that someone pulled the string on, Face met Murdock's eyes. But from the wild expression Face was wearing, the pilot wasn't at all sure his teammate was really seeing him.

"Mu - murdock?"

"The one, the only, the original. Accept no imitations, buddy. Talk to me. Tell me what's happening to you, Face."

"I... hear things. And the walls won't stop moving. I'm going crazy, Murdock. I can't think straight."

Murdock spoke softly, like he would to a child he was trying to coax to sleep.

"You aren't going crazy, Face. I'm the crazy expert around here and you aren't ready for the club. It's just the drugs inside of you, buddy. There's nothing wrong with you."

Without any warning, Face went from sobbing to screaming at Murdock. It was angry, accusing sound - as if he had decided the Captain was at least part of the reason behind his pain.

"Nothing wrong? **Everything** is wrong! Even my skin! They put the wrong skin on me and it's too tight!"

Hannibal winced as Face began trying to dig his nails into his own skin. Murdock ran over toward him, yelling.

"No, Face! No -"

Face flailed out and caught Murdock hard, contacting with the Captain's nose. There was a sickening sound that B.A. knew probably meant a broken nose. Blood flowing freely down and already dripping from his chin, Murdock reeled for a moment before collapsing to the cell's floor as Face wailed like a banshee.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part III**

After seeing that, B.A. had to literally restrain Hannibal before he hurt himself trying to get through the locked door.

"Colonel... calm down. I don't like this any more than you do, but .. we need a plan, Colonel. "

His words got through and even though he could still feel that Hannibal was so tense that he was trembling, the Colonel backed down.

"You're right, Sergeant. You're right. "

Running a hand through his hair, Hannibal tried to avoid looking at the screen. He needed to calm his mind and think. He had to get his men out of here. The sooner, the better.

Back in the other cell, Murdock was slowly picking himself back off of the floor. He didn't pay attention to the pain or even the blood, he just focused back on Face. Once he felt he was steady enough, Murdock worked his way back behind Face. Which wasn't an easy thing to do.

He finally managed to sink down on the floor behind Face and he ignored the occasional random blow as he gathered the man he considered to be his best friend up close to him.

"It's just the drugs, Face. It's just the drugs."

Face was apparently stuck in screaming mode which wasn't helping the pain in Murdock's head in the least. He wanted to vomit, but he just kept holding Face tightly.

"It's just the drugs! It's just the drugs! You don't know a thing about this!"

"Sure I do."

The calm, flat and yet bitter answer got through to Face - and also got the attention of the men in the other cell.

"You likely won't remember this when the drugs go away. I can't always even remember it myself, but I'm going to tell you a little story, Faceman. There were four guys over in 'Nam - a colonel, a lieutenant, a sergeant and a captain. They were all just trying to do their jobs, but that wasn't good enough for somebody. There were charges made and the colonel, the lieutenant and the sergeant were arrested. The captain? Well, they decided that his little choo-choo no longer stopped at all of the appropriate stations, so they figured that arresting him might make folks look too closely at why the other three were arrested."

Murdock kept speaking in that same low tone, gently rocking Face.

"But the guys that made up the charges weren't happy with the captain. They'd figured to put all four of the men in front of a firing squad and if he wasn't going to get shot, why that was going to get rid of 25% of their pleasure. So they decided, you know, hey - if we can't have some fun by killing off his body, we can do the next best thing and kill off his mind."

"They 'volunteered' the captain for experimental drug testing, Facey. Believe me, I know what those things can do to you. But you aren't alone like I was. I can be your guide. I can help you get to the other side."

Face was shivering now. His voice was still loud, but at least he wasn't screaming and hitting Murdock any more.

"I don't want a guide! I want to go back like I was! I don't want to end up like -"

"Like me?"

There was a raw pain in Murdock's voice that contrasted with the words he was saying.

"It's alright, Temp. You can say it. There are a lot of times when I don't care much for being me either."


	4. Chapter 4

**Part IV**

When he spoke again, Face's voice had an accusing edge.

"You never told us?"

If Murdock noticed the edge, he ignored it.

"And how many details did you guys give me about your arrest?"

The counter-question threw Face as he was still trying to think through the drugs coursing through him.

"Why? It was past. Over and done. Nothing you could've done and it still brings up back bad memories."

"Right back at you, muchacho."

"Ah. Okay. I can see that. Sorry."

His voice took a slight whining tone as Face tried to pull free of Murdock. He still had an intense desire to pull off his skin.

"Things are still crawling."

"Try to ignore them. It's not easy, but you're a strong willed guy and they're just cooties. See? When you were a kid, I'll bet you always wondered what cooties actually were. Now you know. Hey, if they make you feel the need to hit something, hit me again. Don't start in on yourself, 'kay?"

The blood on Murdock's face and shirt suddenly registered with Face. His eyes widened.

"Oh man – did I do that?"

"Hey, no blame game, amigo. It wasn't intentional."

"Will closing my eyes help?"

Murdock hugged Face a little tighter for a brief moment, then relaxed his hold a bit.

"Depends, Faceman. Are you feeling paranoid? Like someone's watching or might be sneaking around?"

"Umm – honestly? Yes,"

"Then no. Closing your eyes would make it much worse. When they'd stick me in that dark room by myself? Oh man – that was the pits."

"Did they know?"

"Of course they knew. Give me **some** credit, Temp. I mean, I used to be a sort of genius before they made me into a certified one. I didn't go this far around the bend without a shove."

"So – that's what's going to happen to me too?"

"Shush! No, no, no! You won't. 'Cause you got me. These rubes didn't read the instruction manual for crazy. I'm here and I'm going to keep reminding you that your brain is fine. Just confused. The drugs will go away and, well – you might have some wickedly weird dreams, but you'll wake up from this and be the Templeton Peck you've always been."

"When did you stop waking up… oh hell. I'm sorry, Murdock. You're trying to help and I'm saying stuff that's nasty."

B.A. noticed that Murdock was keeping the lieutenant from looking at his face, which had what he always privately thought of as Murdock's kicked puppy look. Somehow the Crazy Man was managing to keep that out of his voice.

"Hey, no sweat. Crap turned off my own internal filter years ago. Just be glad you aren't trying to smooth talk a Chiquita like this. Sometimes what you think just flows right on out. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200."

"It's just that talking seems to make it easier to take."

"Not telling me anything I don't already know there, little buddy. That's how I got my dog, you know?"

"Billy?"

"Yep. You see, about the third time that they stuffed me into that dark room. I'd figured out that they were trying to add to my crazy, not subtract from it. So I wasn't going to give in and that meant I couldn't just talk to myself. I learned that from my grandmother. She told me that only crazy folks go around talking to themselves, so I started talking to Billy instead. And he was even better than talking to myself because, you know, guard dog and all that. He kept the hands away."

Deciding he was already dealing with an overly active brain himself, Face didn't ask about the hands. He was afraid to.

Instead, he shifted the subject slightly.

"I never really knew what you meant before about voices in your head."

"Yeah. They can get annoying, but I get music sometimes too, so that's not so bad. My worst one is me, sort of."

"Huh?"

"Okay. You know how there's that part in your head that goes _'wow - that could be fun' _but there's that other part that goes_ _'yeah - but you could get hurt'?__

"You mean like there's a gorgeous girl you'd like to flirt with but there's this gorilla disguised as a human with her?"

"Exactly that. Well, now let's imagine the part of you that wants to flirt is being loud. So loud that you can't hear the part trying to warn you about the gorilla."

"Ouch."

"You bet ouch. You think I **want** to get on B.A.'s nerves? Have taken a good look at the size of that man?"

Back in the other cell, Hannibal and B.A. exchanged glances and slight smiles at the comment. B.A. just looked back to the screen then.

"I feel bad watchin' this, Hannibal. Like I'm readin' somebody's diary."

"Not like we've been given a choice, B.A. Besides, if – when – we get out, we'll need to know where Face's head is at to help him."

"Guess that's right. You got a plan yet?"

"Beginnings. Trouble is, no way to contact the others."

"I wonder. Got to be a microphone in there somewhere. Maybe I could make a feedback sound. Let them know they're gettin' listened to at least."

"Let's see what we can do. Beats sitting around."


	5. Chapter 5

**Part V**

Still in Murdock's arms on the floor of the cell, Face found some new symptoms starting. The most obvious one was that he had started to sweat like he was in a sauna. The others were ones that the Captain wouldn't know unless he told him.

"Everything is getting sort of shiny. Brighter. And I feel like I'm losing my balance."

"Shhhh. No they aren't brighter or shinier. You're going to get mad at me for saying it again, but it's the drugs, Faceman. You feel like you're falling, I know. But I'm here. I'm here and I'm going to keep your landing soft, buddy."

"You landed hard?"

"Heck, only folks around were the folks that pushed me off the cliff in the first place, Faceman. And they liked to see plenty of bounce for their buck."

Then Murdock burst into laughter.

"Fortunately for me, they didn't know that HM Murdock was at the tippy-top of his class at ACME U. I learned my falling talents from the master - Wile E. Coyote himself. Hey, when we get out of here, I'll show you my diploma. Got one for sending in boxtops. Or was it bottle caps? Oh well - I don't suppose it matters how I paid for my tuition now that I have the diploma, right?"

A crackling noise had both men moving their heads in unison.

"Hey - did you hear that, Facey?"

"That static sound? Yeah, but I thought it was only inside my head."

"Well, no. It was real. Unless we're somehow sharing some sort of audio hallucination. Which I guess we could be? Wait! We're good! Billy heard it too! Hey, Faceman? Will you be alright for a couple of minutes while me and Billy track that noise down?"

Even though getting his teammates attention had been successful, B.A. was grumbling in the other room.

"Crazy Fool and his fool invisible dog."

Back in the other cell, Face was squinting a little. Then he suddenly grinned.

"Well, I'll be - so that's Billy. Uhm - er - Murdock? What kind of a dog is that? Oh - and I'll be fine. I think. Just don't be too long."

Murdock gave Face another squeeze before releasing his teammate and getting to his feet. Taking off his ballcap, Murdock solemnly put it over his heart.

"Billy is that most noble and ancient of breeds, the renown Gooddog."

With another grin, Murdock put his cap back on and started searching. B.A. made another crackle feedback into the microphone to help the Capain find what he was looking for. Hannibal gave a sigh of relief when Murdock was facing directly into the camera and started grinning.

"Faceman! Run a comb through your shining locks, buddy. We are on Candid Camera! Say, which do you think is my best side? Left or right?"

"Standing behind my profile is how you look best, Murdock."

Face was grinning weakly, still shuddering. Then he reached out a hand and started moving his fingers back and forth in a claw like motion. B.A. leaned forward to take a better look and groaned.

"Ah geeze, Hannibal. Crazy fool's done got Face scratching that invisible dog of his behind its fool ears."


	6. Chapter 6

**Part VI**

Still standing in front of the camera, Murdock was doing some serious contemplating.

"Okay - I think we can safely assume that if the guys that captured us wanted to communicate, they'd just open the door and yell. So, by process of elimination, that means that Hannibal and B.A. are the ones trying to contact us. Or the Martians. Martians tend to use more beeps than static though, so I still think its the guys."

He began to pace a little as if keeping in step with his thoughts.

"And if it's the guys, then Hannibal must have some sort of plans cooking. And if Hannibal has that already bubbling and simmering? Then maybe? Maybe what he needs from you and me is a diversion, Faceman."

Stopping and grinning back at the camera, Murdock was practically bouncing.

"Well? Well? Am I right?"

Hannibal couldn't help but smile as he gave B.A. the nod to send over another crackle.

"I knew it! IknewitIknewitIknewit!"

Murdock practically danced back over to Face, dropping back down behind him and hugging his buddy to him again. Hannibal's smile faded a bit as Murdock started whispering into the Lieutenant's ear. Then he exchanged an uneasy look with B.A. when Face suddenly broke out into a fit of the giggles that would have done a three-year old girl proud.

"I don't think I've ever heard that sound come out of Face before."

"Me neither, Colonel. And I don't think I want to hear it again."

The whispering and giggling stopped like a switch had been thrown. It gave B.A. an uneasy feeling when Murdock suddenly released his hold on Face and got to his feet with a furious expression on his usually friendly features.

"Don't play stupid with me! Do you remember who I am or is that past your thinking abilities now? I am the **pilot**. P-I-L-O-T - pilot! A flyer! That means **you** have to be the moose because I am obviously the Flying Squirrel!"

B.A. cast a glance to Hannibal.

"Squirrel is right."

Hannibal just held up a hand.

"I'm not sure about their intentions yet, but I think that the Captain and the Lieutenant are about to give us our opening, Sergeant. Let's see where they're going with this. In the meantime, hide your work. We don't want him to see that."

"On it, Colonel."

With a speed that most wouldn't have believed a man his size would be capable of (especially one wearing what appeared to be half his body weight in jewelry), B.A. quickly stowed the wires back out of sight, then returned the tiny emergency tools he'd been working with to their 'home', buried in the middle of the nest of chains around his neck. Hannibal had been watching B.A. work, so when the two of them turned back to the monitor, they were rather shocked.

The scene had gone from just yelling to violence. While Hannibal was sure - well, fairly sure - that Murdock was acting, he wasn't so sure that Face was. Just as they'd turned back to the screen, Face threw a punch that caught Murdock in his injured nose again, sending a splattering of fresh blood over both men. The blow had Murdock reeling, but Face was following up and not letting the pilot have any recovery time. Worse, his eyes had gotten that wild look again.

"Moose? **Moose**, you cheese brain? I am Boris Badinov, you fool! I will **keel **Squirrel!"

The worried look on B.A. didn't help the lump in Hannibal's stomach one bit. He didn't have to fake the panic or urgency in his voice as he started shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Hey - **hey**! I don't care! Do what ever you want with me! Just separate them before they kill each other!"

Apparently, their adversary hadn't been far because they soon heard footsteps coming closer. When the man appeared at the door, he was part angry, part puzzled.

"What the hell are you going on about, Smith?"

B.A. yelled out then.

"Colonel! It's gettin' bad! Real bad!"

Spinning around, Hannibal looked at the screen as their captor did as well. It seemed like the amount of blood had multipied and both of his men looked like they'd been in a bad accident. Face's hands were around Murdock's throat. The pilot was still struggling, but it was terribly obvious that his movements were getting more feeble with every passing second while the Lieutenant seemed powered by a manic rage.

Hannibal wanted to, but he couldn't take his eyes off of the screen.

"That! That's what I'm going on about!"

The amount of blood he was seeing along with was happening seem to shock the man.

"That wasn't supposed to make him violent."

B.A. snarled.

"Yeah - bet it ain't supposed to be makin' him thinks he's a fool cartoon character neither. What you expect puttin' a man that can't think straight in with a crazy man?"

Then they all went silent at the sight of Murdock grabbing at Face's wrists one last time before the Captain's arm fell loosely to his side. All of his weight was apparently suddenly in Face's hands and Face wasn't able to support him anymore. Murdock's body fell to the floor with almost no sound.

Breathing heavily, Templeton Peck didn't look anything like the good-looking confidence man he was. His eyes seemed to get a little less wild as he held up his bloody hands and stared at them. Then, as if he was being forced to look when he didn't want to, he turned his head and looked at the still body on the floor. His voice was barely past a whisper.

"Murdock?"

Looking back at his hands again, Face dropped to his knees then threw himself over the prone body while screaming over and over for Murdock to wake back up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Part VII**

The man left B.A. and Hannibal, yelling for his two henchmen as he did. Furious, he was storming down the stairwell to the floor below where the other cell was.

He was going to kill that chemist that mixed the drug concoction for him. Very painfully. Perhaps he'd tell Baracus about the special cocktail that the chemist had injected into Peck. Why not? Then another thought occurred and he grimaced. If that combination had made someone like Peck violent, he didn't dare have it given to Baracus. That would be too much like an angry tiger on massive amounts of caffeine. The big man might rip the place down around them.

He could hear Peck still screaming before he even unlocked the door. Gesturing inside, he instructed his men.

"Pull Peck off of Murdock. Maybe the fool is still alive."

Still staring angrily at the screen in their cell, B.A. started pounding his right fist against his left palm.

"Ain't nobody ain't on our team allowed to call that Fool a fool. Man needs a beatin' bad, Hannibal."

"When we get out of here, he's all yours, Sergeant."

Neither of them took their eyes away from the scene playing out so near, yet so far away.

The henchmen both had weapons in their hands, but Face didn't acknowledge that the men were even there, let alone their guns. Grousing, each of them shifted their weapons to a one-handed carry and used their free hands to reach out for him. The men each grabbed one arm and pulled Peck off of Murdock. He had stopped screaming now and was just softly sobbing, not fighting back against them at all.

Their captor came into the room and stood straight in front of Face briefly, studying him. Deciding he was a broken man, he gestured to his men.

"Drop him and help me with the pilot."

As the three men stopped beside the bloody body, all of a sudden, Face lifted his head and shouted.

"Hey kids? Do you know what time it is?"

All three men turned automatically at the shout. Behind them, Murdock sprang into action like an jack-in-the-box. The two henchmen hadn't bothered to reshift their hold on their weapons and before they knew what had hit them, one micro-uzi was skittering across the floor and the other being wrestled away by Murdock as he yelled out the answer to Face.

"It's Howdy Doody Time!"

Seeing Face reaching for the fallen uzi, their foe cursed and ran from the room. B.A. and Hannibal exchanged glances again. Odds were that the man was coming their way - possibly to try to use a threat against them to regain control over Face and Murdock. Neither of them intended for things to play out that way. There was very little time judging from how long it had taken the man to go from them to where Murdock and Face were.

"B.A. - grab us some of that wire. Let's make a little welcome if we can."

Quickly jerking out the microphone wires he'd been using, B.A. freed about a yard worth of one of the thin wires. The door to their cell opened outward so B.A. quickly tied off the wire on either side of the door, about a foot off the floor. Hearing the sound of running feet approaching, he quickly backed away from the door.

Their now red-faced captor unlocked the door, pulled his M1911 pistol then jerked the door open. He was barking out orders the whole time.

"Baracus - you in that corner. Smith - you in the other. We'll see if your men are -"

Are what was a question for another time as the man didn't see the wire that caught his leg. His gun went off as he fell, imploding the television screen. The last the man remembered seeing before everything went black was a jewelry covered fist headed straight for his face.

Feeling a little better after knocking the man out cold, Baracus took the gun from the unconscious man and passed it over to the Colonel. They both braced again as they heard the sound of more running feet. However this time, it was Face and Murdock who appeared. It was difficult to say which pair was more relieved to see the other.

It took longer to set things up than usual because both Murdock and Face weren't doing so well after their adrenaline died down, but soon the restarted business along with the remaining stockpile of the drugs went up with an impressive fireball. The defeated man cursed at them - he and his men were handcuffed circling a tree to await police.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. You weren't supposed to be able to shut me down again!"

Hannibal just pulled out a cigar, shaking his head.

"You know, if you'd just left us alone, you might have pulled it off this time. Because quite frankly? I don't even remember your name any more."

B.A. just laughed at the expression coming onto the man's face.

"Me neither. Enjoyed punchin' your lights out though."

Face let out a giggle again.

"We could always call him George."

Murdock beamed over at Face, then the two men continued in perfect unison.

"And I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him!"

There was a very audible groan from B.A.

"Someone please tell me that stuff is gonna wear off of the Faceman soon. I don't know how much more of Dueling Fools I can take."

"Not to worry, Big Guy. Billy seems to think that Facey will be back to his normal self by tomorrow."

"You're gettin' medical advise from a dog?"

Hannibal just chuckled as he guided Face into the van.

"Let's go, men. We'll find a place where we can tend to Murdock's nose and let Face sleep this stuff off."

"We need to find some place that allows pets."

"You ain't got no pet with you, Crazy Man!"

"Ooooooo - that's a good angle, Big Buddy. Since they can't see Billy, if we don't mention him, they'll never know he's there."

"He **ain't** there, Fool!"

Face just gave Murdock a slight grin as the pilot climbed into the seat behind him. Hannibal was smiling as well as B.A. started the van and drove off. His team needed some serious rest and recovery time, but they were still together. What else really mattered?


End file.
